Automatic shoe polishing machine



P 1941- J. c. ROUGH 2,257,128

AUTOMATIC SHOE POLISHING MACHINE Filed Feb. 21, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 9 1.

I 1 62 3 I4 I .58 6/ a 19 o 00 0* 95 I6 0 x 75 /NVE/Y TO B mu m '7 H .9- Y 5 P 1941- J. c. ROUGH 2,257,128

- AUTOMATIC SHOE POLISHING MACHINE Filed Feb. 21, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 P 1941- K J. c. ROUGH 2,257,128

AUTOMATIC SHOE POLISHING MACHINE Filed Feb. 21, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 l/YVFNTOA? P 1941- J. c. ROUGH 2,257,128

AUTOMATIC SHOE POLISHING MACHINE Filed Feb. 21, 1-938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 30, 1941 UNITED sTATEs ear OFFICE 12 Claims.

This invention relates to shoe polishing machines, and more particularly to machines adapted to carry out an automatic cycle including periodic application of polish to the brushes.

An object of the invention is to provide an economical compact, and efiicient shoe polishing machine. i 7

Another object is to provide novel means for periodically applying polish to the polishing brushes to be transferred to the shoes being polished.

Still another object is to provide a simple and reliable driving mechanism for a series of brushes.

Still another object is to provide a novel foot slide adapted tofacilitate the use of the machine.

And still another object is to provide a novel constructionof wax polishing rolls for efiiciently applying polishing wax to the brushes in correct quantities and without waste.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and, in which:

Figure l is a partial elevational View of my novel polishing machine with the outer casing removed;

Figure 2 is a similar view .of the opposite side of the machine;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1, showing the brushes and automatic polish applying elements more clearly;

Figure 4 is a partial view similar to Figure 1, QfW i the door in opened and closed position;

Figure .5 isa sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 2, showing the brushes for polishing the side and heel of a shoe;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a plan view of O O the Side brushes;

Figure 3 is a partial elevational view on an enlarged scale showing, in full lines, the timing 4 and control mechanism in the off position, and showing the mechanism in dotted lines in the on position for a one cent shine; and

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8, with parts omitted, showing the timing and control mechanism in the on and off positions in full and dotted lines respectively for a five cent shine.

Referring now to the drawings, my novel machine may comprise a base 9 to which is attached a framework which may include two side plates it. Extending forwardly and downwardly between the side plates is a foot rest or slide II in the form of a ramp or incline. I prefer to form the foot rest with a narrow groove Ha along its center for the accommodation of a ladys heel. The groove Ila may be terminated in an abutmerit at lib adapted to stop the insertion of the foot at the maximum desirable distance. I consider the arrangement of the foot rest as an incline or ramp extremely important in the operation of this machine. The angle of the ramp is made to agree substantially with the motion of a human foot if the leg is swung freely from the hip while one is standing in front of the machine facilitating the use of the machine in the desired manner as described later. The angle may be easily determined but I have found that about 20 from the horizontal is the correct one.

The polishing apparatus consists of two side brushes 52 positioned on opposite sides of the foot rest H for polishing the sides and heels of shoes and a toe brush 13 carried on a transverse arbor 43 journalled in the side plates In above and behind the side brushes [3.

The side brushes l2 are mounted upon an angle iron s55 extending transversely of the base underneath the foot rest H, the mounting consisting of stub shafts 48 pivotally mounted so as to be laterally swingable on bolts 5| secured to said angle iron. Stop pins 46 on the angle irons limit the movement of the stub shafts toward each other, and the shafts are normally urged against these pins by springs such as the flat springs 52. The brushes have hubs formed at their lower ends with pulleys 3| for the reception of round leather belts and they are formed with a cylindrical recess adapted to slide over the stub shafts 4 8. Thrust bearings 49 may be provided between the stub shafts and the hubs. The actual brushing elements may consist of two disks 41 and 50 of lamb skin, the upper one 41 being larger in diameter than the lower and each having the wool side downward. These disks may be clamped between metal washers 32 secured on axial projections of the hubs 35 by means of nuts 36. i i

The toe brush l3 preferably consists of two large disks 5% of lamb skin secured to the arbor with a spacing of about two inches longitudinally of the arbor and with the Wool sides facing towards each other. Each of the toe brush disks may be secured to separate hubs M and 42 removably secured to the arbor 40.

An electric motor 30', mounted upon the machine base at the rear thereof with its axis extending transversely; provides the motive power. It may have an armature shaft 39 projecting at both ends. On the left side, this shaft may carry a double pulley 31, one portion of which is connected with the pulley 3! of the left-hand side brush I2 by means of a round leather belt 33, and the other portion of which may be connected by means of a similar belt 44 to a pulley 43 secured on the arbor 40 which carries the toe brush l2. The right-hand end of the motor shaft 39 carries two pulleys, one of which, 38, is connected to the pulley 3| of the right-hand side brush by a belt 34 and the other of which, 29, is adapted to drive the timing mechanism in a manner to be described later.

The belts 33 and 34 are twisted substantially 90 in opposite directions whereby the two side brushes are rotated in opposite directions. I prefer that they each rotate in a direction to assist insertion of the foot between them, i. e. the right-hand brush rotates counterclockwise and the left-hand brush rotates clockwise as seenin Fig. 3.

The machine is preferably in closed in a suitable housing, not shown, having an opening in the front giving access to the brushes. I prefer to close this opening by adoor l4 secured to a generally U-shaped lever 54 pivoted upon the side plates H] by pivots 53. formed on the arc of a circle having its center coincident with the pivots 53, and the pivots extend transversely of the machine so that the door swings up and backwardly to permit the insertion of the foot for the polishing operation. The foot rest ll may be provided with a transverse slot 35 adapted to receive the edge of the door to make it difficult for it to be opened from the outside, and the edge of the door may be provided with a sponge rubber pad 64 to prevent injury of the foot when the door closes. Further to protect the users foot from injury upon the closing of the door, I prefer to provide an air check in the form of a cylinder 63 pivotally I secured to the base and having a piston and piston rod pivotally secured to the door lever 54. Polish applying means are provided, and may I be divided into two classes of which one class comprises rolls of polishing wax l5 pivotally mounted on U-shaped brackets secured to the door mounting lever 54 with their axes substantially parallel to those of the side brushes [3. 1 These rolls are secured in such a position that 1 when the door is opened they move past said side brushes so as to contact them and apply 1 polish thereto. 5 they are above the said brushes and no longer When the door is fully opened,

contact them. A third polish applying device horizontal and extending transversely of the machine. I This roll is so positioned on the door that it swings past the toe brush l2 to apply polish thereto when the door is opened.

V The other group of polish applying devices consists of devices adapted to be operated periodically by the timing mechanism of the machine, during thecourse of a long polishing operation in which thesupply of polish provided 89 of polishing wax pivotally mounted on an axis This door may be 3 of this group comprises a similar roll l6 of pol- 5 ishing wax secured to the door 14 with its axis paralleling'the arbor on a lever 13 pivoted at the back of the machine at 19 and adapted j to swing forwardly to bring .the .roll 19 into contact with the toe brush l3. The lever 18 may be swung by a linkage consisting of a push rod 20 and a rocking lever 2| pivoted on a bracket on the base and having a finger 24 projecting into the path of a star wheel cam 22.

Additional wax rolls I! (see Fig. 3) may be pivotally mounted on suitable connected levers l8 adjacent the side brushes 12 so that they may be swung from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, underneathand in contact with the side brushes l2, to apply polish thereto. A link 23' may be connected to the lever 18 carrying the polish roll i9 and to the levers l8 carrying the rolls l1 whereby all of the rolls are simultaneously operated to apply polish to their respective brushes.

It will be observed that all of these polish rolls are so positioned that they are rotated by contact with their respective brushes whereby they are worn away uniformly. The rolls may be of any substantially colorless waxy substance such as beeswax.

The timing mechanism is driven by the pulley 29 secured to the right-hand end of the motor shaft 39 which is connected by a belt 28 to a large diameter pulley 27 mounted upon a shaft 88 jcurnalled in the right-hand side plate l0. To perform the operations of opening the door l4 and operating the polish applying roll [9, the shaft 63 has secured at its outer end a pinion 26 driving a large gear 25 rotatably mounted on the door pivot 53 on the right-hand side of plate l0.

The gear 25 is provided with a pin 51 adjacent its periphery which is adapted to engage a finger of the star wheel '22 upon each revolution, thereby to rotate the star wheel a portion of a revolution depending upon the number of fingers thereon (the illustrated one having five fingers, whereby it is rotatedv A; of a revolution upon each revolution of the gear 25.) One finger 23 of the star wheel 22 is longer than the others and extends far enough to engage the projection 24 on the rocking lever 2 I, whereby, once in every revolution of'the star wheel 22, the lever 2| is rocked to swing the polish roll I9 into engagement with the toe brush to apply polish thereto,

The lever 54 carrying the door I4 is provided with a pawl 56 pivotally mounted thereon at 55 and positioned in the path of the pin 51 to be engaged-thereby to swing the door upwardly upon initiation of rotation of'the gear 25. A stop 59 is secured to theside plate [9 in a position to en gage the pawl 56 and force it off the pin 51 when the door has reached its uppermost position. The door is caught and held at that position by a catch 6| pivoted upon the side plate I!) and adapted to catch and hold a pin 69 secured to the door mounting lever 54. The catch 6! is preferably urged intc latching position by a spring 80.

The pawl 56 is preferably urged into released position by a tension spring 8| secured between it and the lever 54. This spring is not strong enough to pull the pawl oif of the pin 51, but will hold the pawl retracted once it is released by the stop 59. When the door is in lowered position, a fiat spring 82 secured on a bracket 83 on the base engages the end of the pawl and forces it into a position to be re-engaged by the pin 51 on the gear 25. This construction is essential in order that the door may be lifted higher than its final latched position to insure latching and may then fall back into engagement with the latch 6| a er the stop member 59 has pushed the pawl oil the pin 51. Ifthe pawl were not positively retracted by its spring 8|, it would then fall back into a position to be engaged by the pin 5.! up n every subsequent revolution thereof, whereby the door would be caused to jump periodically in a manner which might be frightening to the user.

The inner end of the shaft 68 is provided with an eccentric 84 adapted to drive a pawl 85 which is held in engagement with a ratchet wheel 66 by means of a spring 36. The ratchet wheel 65 is pivotally mounted on a stub shaft 61 secured to the right-hand side plate In and has pivoted concentrically upon it a cam disk 12 having a circular periphery broken at one point by a substantially square notch H. The cam disk 12 is formed near its periphery with an arcuate slot 81 through which passes a pin 11 secured to the ratchet wheel 65. A coil spring 88 is secured between the pin 1'! and the cam disk 12 in a mannor to urge the cam disk in the same direction of rotation as that in which the ratchet wheel 66 is moved (i. e. clockwise as seen in Figure 8).

A lever 62 is pivoted on the side frame at 89 and is provided intermediate its length with a cam follower 16 adapted to ride on the periphery of the cam disk 12. The cam follower 10 is of such sizez that it may enter the notch H. The lever 62 is operably connected to the main motor switch in such a manner that, when the cam follower 16 enters the notch 1 I, the switch is opened, and when it is lifted from said notch and rides on the periphery of said cam, the switch is closed. The switch may comprise a mercury switch 99 mounted on a rocking lever 9| pivoted at 92 upon the machine frame and connected to the lever 62 by means of a drag link 93. An operating button 59 is connected to the lever 62 by suitable means and is preferably positioned near the top of the casing where it may be grasped conveniently by a person desiring to use the machine.

I prefer to provide an extension 94 of the pawl 85 reaching to the lever 62 and engageable therewith so that when the lever drops into the off position, as shown in full lines in Figure 8, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet Wheel 66, thereby preventin the mechanism from being moved after the termination of the operation even though the motor may run of its own inertia for a few seconds thereafter.

Although it is not shown in Figure 8, it will be seen from Figure 1 that the lever 62 has a lateral extension 95 at its ends which is engageable with a rearwardly projecting portion of the door latch 6 I, whereby the latch is raised to release the door when the lever 62 drops to stop the machine.

I prefer to provide operating mechanism enabling a user to selectively operate the machine to provide a short or a long operation. For ex.- ample, the operating button 69 previously described, may operate the mechanism for a period of thirty seconds or the like, and a second opera ating button 13 may operate the. mechanism for five times that period. This lever may be provided with a push rod 14 extending to a point adjacent the ratchet wheel 66 where it is engageable with a pin 15 secured on a lever 96 which is secured to a shaft 94 pivotally mounted on the machine frame. A five-pointed star wheel 16 and a cam 98, adapted to receive a second cam follower 99 formed on the lever 62, are also secured to the shaft 91. The cam 98 is adapted to engage the follower 99 to move the lever 62. to the starting position, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 8, during an initial movement (which may be of a revolution) and to hold the said lever so raised during the balance of one revolution and to release it at the end of one revolution so that it may return to the off position. The star wheel; '16 is positioned beside the ratchet wheel 66 so that the pin 17, previously described, may en goes the fingers thereof so as to rotate the star wheel through an arc subtended by one finger upon every revolution of the ratchet wheel 66. However; the star wheel 16 is formed with two of the fingers so widely spaced that the pin may rotate past them without rotating the star wheel when it is in the full line position shown in Fig. ure .8.

A suitable coin mechanism may be provided to release the button 69 or the button 13 upon the insertion of an appropriate coin, for example, the button 69 may be released by the insertion of a penny and the button 13 may be released by the insertion of a nickel. This mechanism is not shown as it forms no part of the invention disclosed herein.

To obtain a shine for one cent, the appropriate coin is inserted to release the button 69 which is then raised to start the machine. Upon the raising of the button 69 the switch 90 is tilted to switch-closed position to start the motor and the lever 62 is raised to the dotted line position of Figure 8 whereupon the pawl lever 68 moves into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 66 and the cam disk 12 snaps forward under the influence of the spring 88 so that the lever 62 is held in the raised position. Simultaneously the gear 25 is rotated by the motor in a clockwise direction and engages the pawl 56 to open the door M. The stop member 59 releases the pawl 56 from the pin 51, when the door is open, and the catch 6| holds the door in the open position, it having previously been released by the raising of the lever 62.

The user may then insert his foot along the foot rest ll between the side brushes l2 with the toe under the toe brush l3 and by appropriate movements of the foot in and out, up and down, and back and forth, may obtain the desired shine.

As previously described the foot slide I is sloped so that a free swinging motion of the leg from the hip may be employed to kick the foot in and out between the side brushes and under the toe brush. If a lady is using the machine, the high heels of her high heel projects into the heel groove 5 la so as to permit the side brushes to polish the upper portion of the shoe heel, and the inward motion of the shoe is stopped by the abutment ill) at the maxi-mum desirable distance so as to prevent injury to delicate stockings. It is understood that the polish applying rolls secured to the door will have fulfilled their appropriate function of applying polish to the brushes upon. the opening of the door.

The lateral swinging mounting of the side brushes permits them to move to accommodate the irregular shapes of various shoes, and the novel construction of the brushes of flexible disks of lamb skin with the wool in place provides an extremely effective polishing action in that the disks are stretched into a plane by centrifugal force and tend to cling closely to the curved surface of a shoe when it is pressed against them so as to tend to force them out of this plane.

With the continued operation of the motor, the 25 makes successive revolutions, turning the star wheel 22 so that the finger 23 engages the rocking lever 2! to apply polish from the polish rolls i7 and 19. For the operation of the one cent shine I prefer to make the gear 25 rotate exactly five times whereby the polish is applied once. I

'Ihe eccentric 84 on the shaft 68 oscillates the pawl lever 85 so that it successively engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 66 to rotate it, and, at the completion of one revolution, the cam follower falls into the notch H in the cam disk lz thereby swinging the switch Hi to switch open position and simultaneously throwing the pawl lever 68 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 66"to stop themachine. It will be understood that, by this time, the gear 25 has completed five revolutions and the pin 51 now occupies the position shown in Figure 1 ready to open the door' immediately upon the beginning of a new operation.

An important feature of the operation of this device resides in the inter-connection between thecam disks 12 and the ratchet wheel 66 by means of 'th'e spring 88. The friction of the cam follower 70 upon the periphery of the disk 12 tends to prevent the disk 12 from rotating with the ratchet wheel until the pin 11 has reached the clockwise end of the slot 81, at which time the'spring 88 is stretched. Consequently, when the lever 62 is lifted, the force tending to holdthe cam disk 12 is released and the spring 88 is permitted tocontract and rotate the cam disk a short distance in a clockwise direction (see FigsrB and 9). This makes it impossible for the cam follower 10 to return to the notch H until the operation has been completed by a complete revolution of the ratchet wheel 66. The relative motion between the ratchet wheel 66 and the cam disk 12 is limited by the length of the arouate slot 81.

To obtain the five-cent shine, the operating button 13 is pushed downward, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 9, to rotate the lever 96 to the position shown'in Figure 1. It is understood that a spring may be provided for returning the handle to its original position. The swinging of the lever 96 rotates the cam 98 causing the cam follower 99 to raise the lever 62 to initiate oper- 3 ation of the machine in the same manner previously described. It also swings a finger of the star wheel 66 into a position to be engaged by v 1 the pin Til so that the star wheel will be rotated j a portion of a revolution upon every subsequent revolution of the ratchet wheel 66. The cam disk I 12 is now inoperative because the. lever 62 is sup- 1 ported by the cam 98 and cam follower 99 and cannot fall. Thus the machine will operate five 1 times as long while the pin 17 is rotating the star wheel 16 around to its original position. The

j machine is so designed that the cam 98 releases j the lever 52 just prior to the reaching of released position by the cam disk 12 so that upon completion of the longer operation, stoppage is actually accomplished by the cam disk 12 in the manner previously described. The pin 15 on the lever 98 will have been moved around to its initial position, as shown in Figure 8, underneath the push rod 14, so that the operation may again be initiated by pushing down on the operating 1 handle 13.

It is to be understood that the form of the in vention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

i I claimf v 1 '1. In a shoe polishing machine, a plurality of switch and releasing said door latch to permit the door'to' close under the influence of gravity upon the expiration of a predetermined period of operation.

2. In' a shoe polishing machine, a plurality of brushing elements, a motor driving said elements, a doo'r adapted to give access to the brushing elements, mechanical means for opening said door driven by said motor, a latch for holding the door open, a switch for starting the motor, manual means for closing the switch, and timing mechanism driven by the motor for opening said switch and releasing said door latch to permit the door to close under the influence of gravity upon the expiration of a predetermined period of operation, said door having polish applying means'secured thereto and engageable with the brushing elements to apply polish thereto upon the opening of the door.

3. In a shoe polishing machine, a plurality of brushing elements, a motor driving said elements, a door adapted to give access to the brushing elements, mechanical means for opening said door driven by said motor, a latch for holding the door open, aswitch for starting the motor, manual means for closing the switch, and timing mechanism driven by the motor for opening said switch and releasing said door latch to permit thedoor to close under the influence of gravity upon the expiration of a predetermined period of operation, said door being provided with an air'check adapted to prevent too rapid closing.

4. In a shoe polishing machine, a plurality of brushing elements, a motor driving said elements, a door adapted to give access to the brushing elements, mechanical means for opening the door driven by said motor, a latch for holding the door open, a switch for starting the motor, manual means for closing the switch, polish supplying devices, swingable levers carrying said devices and adapted to move them into engagement with the brushing elements, a linkage connected to said levers, a camadapted to operate the linkage, and timing means adapted to drive said cam to periodically apply polish to the brushing with said brushes while the brushes are acting on theshoes being polished.

6'. In a shoe polishing machine, motor driven polishing means, a door movable from a closed to an open position for providing access to the polishing means, and polish supplying means mounted on the door and positioned to engage the polishing means and apply polish thereto while the door is opening.

'7. In a shoe polishing machine, in combination, a pair of laterally swingable stub shafts, side brushes rotatably mounted on the stub shafts, said brushes having hubs formed with pulleys, a motor for driving the brushes positioned behind the brushes and having a double extension armature provided at each end with pulleys, and belts extending between the brush pulleys and the adjacent motor shaft pulleys.

8. In a shoe polishing machine, a pair of laterally spaced side brushes, a toe brush positioned above and to the rear of the side brushes, means for rotating said brushes, and a foot slide extending between the side brushes and under the toe brush on an angle approximating the path of motion of the human foot when the leg is swung freely.

9. In a shoe polishing machine, a pair of laterally spaced side brushes, a toe brush positioned above and to the rear of the side brushes, means for rotating said brushes, and a foot slide extending between the side brushes and under the toe brush on an angle approximating the path of motion of the human foot when the leg is swung freely, said slide being formed with a central groove adapted to receive the heel of a ladys high-heeled shoe.

10. In a shoe polishing machine, a pair of laterally spaced side brushes, a toe brush positioned above and to the rear of the side brushes, means for rotating said brushes, and a foot slide extending between the side brushes and under the toe brush on an angle approximating the path of motion of the human foot when the leg is swung freely, said slide being formed with a central groove adapted to receive the heel of a ladys high-heeled shoe, said groove terminating in an abutment adapted to prevent insertion of a ladys foot beyond a, predetermined distance.

11. Ina shoe polishing machine, a pair of rotary polishing brushes having polishing surfaces in plane radially of the axes of the brushes, said planes converging toward each other, and means for journaling the brushes and for rotating the brushes at speeds sufiicient to create centrifugal forces within the brushes and thereby constrain the brushes in said planes and cause the brushes to follow and conform to surfaces of confronting portions of a shoe moved between the brushes.

12. The structure of claim 11; wherein the planes of the polishing surfaces converge downwardly.

JACOB C. ROUGH. 

